A massage machine provided with a seat portion and a backrest portion with massage tools such as treatment elements, air cells, and the like provided therein is known. In such a chair type massage machine, the backrest portion can be reclined about a back portion side of the seat portion, as a reclining center. The chair type massage machine is configured to perform massage by keeping a user lying in a reclining state where the backrest portion is folded backward and by operating the massage tools.
In addition to the above massage machine with the massage tools, a chair type massage machine to provide a user with a relaxing effect, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-41416 (see, in particular, FIGS. 5 and 6), has become known in recent years.
This massage machine is configured such that the backrest portion can be rotated about the reclining center, and the seat portion can be swung vertically. This massage machine swings the body of the user sitting on its seat portion by vertically swinging the seat portion in a reciprocating manner and rotating the backrest portion about the reclining center in a reciprocating manner to provide the user with a relaxing effect.
Although it is possible to swing the body of the user by rotating the backrest portion about the reclining center in a reciprocating manner in the case of the chair type massage machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, this swinging operation causes the user's upper body to be folded and raised.
This operation is a repetition of the reclining operation of the backrest portion while the seat portion is moved vertically. Accordingly, the relaxing effect is considered to be insufficient.